Eagles, Recipes, and Stash

Well I have been MIA but it is with a fairly decent excuse.  My hands have been extremely swollen and painful.  It has only been within the past day or two that I have been able to grasp and hold a sewing needle.  I have not been able to even think of holding and manipulating a tapestry needle to do counted stitching of any kind.  I was able to back a banner for a baptism at church tomorrow but not without much difficulty.  I am able to do more things each day but still not the things I dearly want to do.  So- - -bear with me. 
Yes, Christine, we commonly see eagles within the city limits; we see many more eagles today than even a couple years ago.  The eagles like to be around the rivers that flow through this area, the Mississippi and the St. Croix before it flows into the Mississippi.  They like to soar on the thermals above the river bluffs to the south of where I live.  Wabasha, Minnesota which is right on the Mississippi River just below Lake Peppin has become well known for having eagles and their Eagle Center.  We stopped off a week ago to see what we could see.  We did not see any flying outside but we saw three inside the center.  They had all been injured but could not be released into the wild after their injuries healed.  Below are pictures of all three. 
Just look at their claws; they are huge and very strong.  It is difficult to see their legs but they are very strong and much more muscle bound than any song bird legs.  I would not want to tangle with even these handicapped eagles.  

The next picture is the Mississippi just outside the Eagle Center.  The bridge goes across to Wisconsin.  The hills on the other side of the river are in Wisconsin.  The wide area in the river just beyond the bridge is Lake Peppin.  The "lake" is a riverine lake and not a true lake.  The current of the river flows through it from north to south. 

Recipes 

This is the pear chutney that I made a couple weeks ago.  It really is extremely good.  I used bosc pears but you could use any good cooking pear. 

This chocolate cake became my go to recipe after I made it the first time.  The title of the recipe does not do the cake justice.  I do not have a picture of my cake for you so you will have to use your imagination.  Just picture a very dark, dense chocolate cake. 


Now on to stash
This weekend we had one of our semi-annual rummage sales at church.  It is a chance to clear out at least some of your accumulated schmuck and benefit the church outreach programs at the same time.  The women who set up the rummage sale pulled these things out of the sale and thought they might cheer me up while my hands heal. 

There is an assortment of DMC flosses and other metallic threads plus the box that most of the threads are in.  There are four placemats and eight napkins.  I think I might like to stitch them with a blue and white design to complement my Blue Willow dishes.  There are also several charts, a couple of which I think are very cute.  There is a bread basket cover to embroider and a fairly large piece of ivory Aida.  I have not decided what to do with it yet.  I will be integrating these things into my stash as the week progresses. 

Off Dead Center

This past week I was able to make some progress on the anniversary sampler.  You can take a look. 

Since I took this picture, I finished the chevron on the right and cut the threads in the center chevron.  I am definitely making progress. 

At last it appears that my friendly little hummingbird has finally begun its migration.  I hope it makes its trip.  This morning I saw a pair of eagles soaring over the freeway.  They look so magnificent. 

It seems like there has been little going on around the house and yard.  We are putting the gardens to bed for the winter but feel reluctant to cut back blooming and green plants. 

We are doing a little special cooking and baking.  The weather has cooled a bit and cooking and baking have become fun again.  This afternoon, I made a pear chutney.  It will nicely complement the chicken we will roast on Sunday. 

I very much appreciate all of your kind compliments about my special tablecloth.  

Accomplishments of the Week

First things first - Some of you wanted to see this colossal crocheted tablecloth I washed two weeks ago. 
I did not take everything off the dining room table to stretch it out to is full extend and I did not count the number of squares in it.  But I did take pictures of something.  There are three different square patterns in the tablecloth. 

I did not unfold the entire tablecloth but this gives you a good idea of how it looks on the table. 

There are three different pattern squares.  They are all shown in this picture.  
1.  Border Corner Grape Vine
2.  Border Straight Grape Vine
3.  Center fill

I have shown you a set of four of the center fill so you can see how the enter pattern develops. 

I have been sewing.  This week I made a  pair of little baby shoes for our nephew and his wife.  They are expecting their first child in less than a month.  This coming weekend we are having a baby shower for them.  I decided to make a pair of little shoes to add to my gift.  Cute aren't they? 

I finished stitching the Dog House Sampler.  The boy's name and birthdate are at the bottom but I clone brushed it out for the privacy of the family.  It is on the fabrics that I will use to make the pillow.  It is a little difficult to see the white features, the oversized bone on the right side and the fence on the felt side. 



Last week I forgot to tell you about the local birds.  My little hummingbird was still here this week.  It came out to visit my little red flowers on Tuesday when I hung out my sheets to dry.  My friend who lives down the street about four visiting her feeder.  They are extremely territorial and spend a lot of time chasing each other away.  This year for the first time ever she head one of the chirping too.  Maybe our hummingbirds are becoming little chatterboxes. 

Last Thursday, one of our pair of  resident pileated woodpeckers was at my eye height on a tree trunk up the street from our house.  It was walking around and up and down the trunk.  Then it flew to a tree on the other side of the street and did the same thing there.  They look positive prehistoric and are quite large, about 16 inches long.   It served to remind me that I have to get their suet feeder out again now that the weather is cooling.